Awesome timing. I just hopped on to these forums for the first time to see if there were any local meet-ups. I actually live in Sandy, so the location is perfect for me. I filled out the doodle poll. Looking forward to getting together.

I haven't seen anyone take the lead on making a firm commitment. Based on the Doodle poll, it looks like maybe 11 a.m. this Saturday, March 5 at the Sandy Barnes & Noble is the optimum time. Any takers, or anyone else want to suggest a different time?

Awesome. Thanks for spearheading this, Lnspilot. I believe the coffeeshop area is just to the right inside that B&N (although it's been a few years since I went in there). I could bring a simple "MMM meetup" table tent to draw in wandering souls.

It was great to finally meet someone in the flesh who has reached FI, very motivating, and always good to see the math actually hold in reality. I propose April 16th, 11 am for the next meetup. I'll be pulling all nighters with the baby the week before so I doubt I'd make it.

One other topic that I was thinking about afterwards was whether or not to work a second job. I hadn't really considered it before, although I used to work lots of weekends doing my freelance stuff. After mulling the idea, the conclusion I came to is that I would not work a second job unless it was for my maximum hourly rate for two reasons.

1) A few years back I was getting constant requests for after hours and weekend work, so I implemented a double and triple time policy for weekends and holidays respectively. I found that when I was making double or triple I did not find it as soul sucking as before. It also cut the requests down substantially which I value.

2) Building on Lisa's comment, you should be narrowing in on the highest margins. Another thing I've learned from freelancing, is that in many cases you'll make either the same amount or more if you focus solely on the most profitable projects and turning down the rest. In my case I found that raising rates and taking only larger projects led to my being able to work fewer hours per month while either increasing or staying at the same amount of income. The fact is there is so much demand for higher skilled labor that you could fill up all your waking hours and still not run out of available work. So, if I were to work a second job, I would be focusing on something that could bring in the highest amount per hour I could make. If you don't have the skills, I think it would be more worth your while to quit any unskileld secondary jobs and develop new skills. Things like construction, painting, programming, network administration, etc come to mind, and I would target at minimum 20-25/hr. You may have to settle for less initially to build up a resume, but within 6 months to a year, if you took IT work for example, you should be able to take in at minimum 50 per hour with side jobs. I think you'll find that there is more than enough demand for skilled labor to justify turning down lower paying jobs and focusing only on the higher paying ones. Just my 2 cents.

Really enjoyed getting together. April 16th doesn't work for me, as I am flying out of the country that day for a month. Any evening that week up to Saturday will work. If Saturday is the best for everyone else, I will catch up again when I return.

I could do the 26th of March, possibly April 2nd but would have to be earlier in the morning maybe around 8 or 9. Friday evenings, Saturday mornings, and Sunday mornings work the best for me. I don't want to exclude anyone who can't do Sundays though.

I am totally flexible to go wherever. We just took our first trip up Millcreek Canyon last weekend and it seemed to be pretty easy to find a campground and it seems like a nice area. As a possible outdoor location suggestion.

There are some nice picnic/pavilion areas along the South Jordan Parkway area just west of the 10600 South exit off I-15. Lone Peak Park in Sandy, at 700 E and about 10000 South, is also good, though that sometimes gets a lot of soccer/baseball traffic if those things are going on. I could bring a camp stove and cook some Costco dogs or something simple like that if people want to do a barbecue potluck.

B, I made that Google map with the intention of it being editable for anybody who has the link above. It was giving Foundapenny trouble for some reason. Let me know if it's not working for you as well.

Location suggestions are welcome because downtown isn't convenient for some folks traveling from neighboring counties.

Yeah, the map never would let me add the previously mentioned locations. LNS, if you want to add them yourself you're welcome to. The easiest way to find the South Jordan one is to search for Dancing Moose Montessori School in South Jordan and the park/pavilions are just behind that location, to the east. The other one is near the Sandy Skate Park on 700 E. and about 10100 South.

I am open to a potluck BBQ or whatever is easiest. We could always cancel the food portion and meet in the Barnes and Noble as suggested if it is going to pour all day. Although, if we have a pavilion that shouldn't be too much of a problem.

I'm good with a potluck. I think the South Jordan location would be good simply because there are a lot of pavilions in that area and I can't imagine they would all be taken at that time. And if it gets crazy stormy that would be just down the street from the B&N we met at last time anyway.

I can bring something. Are we going to BBQ or not? We could bring a meat and coordinate the sides. Or just bring things to share without the BBQ? Also, I am planning on bringing my wife and baby are others planning on bringing family?

Some of the pavilions have the metal grill box, but I'll bring a camp stove and a griddle top just to make it easier. I mentioned some Costco dogs earlier in the thread, but if others are bringing meat I can bring some pasta salad for sure and maybe something else as well.

I'll be bringing a vegetarian snack of hummus and crackers/chips, and some beer as well.

My number is 385-275-6425.

I'm hoping Foundapenny can maneuver the marker on the google map to where to meet specifically. I moved it to the parking area which appears to be by the pavilions. https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zOVx6McmP_j4.kU-U-m2tMBq8&usp=sharing

Sundays actually work best for me. Saturday mornings more likely than evenings. I'm an entertainment technician. My weekends are usually eaten up by shows. But certainly when a time is decided, I'll do my best to make it to at least one meetup.

For discussion, I think throwing down the gauntlet would be fun. I'm trying to cut my childcare expenses in half and cut my food/gas expenses by 25% this month. I'd also be curious to know how many years people have left and what kind of retirement people are shooting for. Might be too personal though.

The 23rd works for me. I'm gone again the 30th. I suspect it'll be hard to pin everyone down during the summer, but we should definitely get something set up even if the attendance is a little less than the past couple. Don't want to lose momentum!

My wife and I just moved to SLC June 1 and have been on the FIREish path for a little over a year. I would much like meeting some like minded people. Looks like something might be in the works for July, our weekends typically always open as we have just moved, so looking forward to a meetup!

We kicked around the idea of having a central topic or main presenter to help focus these. I'll throw out some ideas to get the ball rolling, but others can add to the list, or second one they particularly like.

- Using Excel to project your income and expenses years in advance (I do this and could talk about it)- Tax strategies for investing or otherwise- How to find your "number" for financial independence- Books, websites, podcasts, etc. you find helpful for learning about personal finance- This Financial Life (someone lays out everything they're doing and others offer thoughts on how to cut expenses, increase returns, etc.)- The worst/best financial move you've made and what you learned from it- Navigating the housing market (I'm closing on a new house at the end of the month, so I could talk about our experience)- Big or little things you do to save money that others should consider- Travel hacking (would love to hear someone who does this talk about it)- How you measure your progress toward FI

Are we doing the potluck again? And who thinks they're going to be there so far?

3 confirmed as far as I know, maybe a few lurkers :) I don't care as much if it's not many people, might be worthwhile to switch venues to a bar or something in that case though, just to set a good atmosphere. We could preparty ahead of time to make it mustachian. Potluck sounds good to me otherwise.

I like a lot of your ideas. Really like the determining your number idea, especially as it relates to your savings rate. Best/work financial moves would be great too. I wouldn't call myself a travel hacker, but I have started churning credit cards to get travel perks, I got 8 free hotel stays this year at Marriott properties.

I have a class at 1pm that day that should be done by 5, so I'll probably be a little bit late.

+1 for determining numbers. I've been over budget for the last six months for various reasons, all of which need to be taken into consideration for future spending.

Everyone has a worst/best to share... I know I've got a worst! C'mon support group.. ;)

I'm still for the previous location since the weather is nice and you aren't pushed to spend any money if you don't want to. But heck, olob if you want to have drinks and talk FI I'm sure a handful of us would be game!

As for the pot luck, it doesn't matter to me. I'm good with just meeting up and going over aforementioned topics.

I imagine she's probably somewhere in Africa or some other random place, too busy for us mere mortals.

Right?! Total bad ass. She'll come around. Hopefully : )

We'll be meeting at a city park pavilion located at 10900 South River Front Parkway, South Jordan, UT 84095.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/10900+S+River+Front+Pkwy,+South+Jordan,+UT+84095/@40.5525562,-111.9147742,184m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x87528649d15b2577:0x5cdb2cb083ce0a4f!8m2!3d40.5525562!4d-111.914227 (that was a "short" url)

The rainy day location has unofficially been at the Barnes and Noble here: https://goo.gl/maps/QVss37H4y9U2

Looking forward to seeing everyone (or at least the three of you) today. Since it'll probably be a fairly small gathering today, I'll offer the option of meeting at my house just up the street from the park site. I've got some burgers I could throw on the grill (meat and veggie) and that would avoid the potential for the pavilion to be taken when we get there. And the drinks could stay frosty in the fridge. Just an option.

My address is [removed, because I've moved and it ain't gonna be my place anymore]. If y'all are up for that just post and let me know. If not, or if I don't see acknowledgement from the three people who say they're coming by like 3:30 p.m. today I'll just see you at the pavilion.

Olob is also good with the venue change. The only confirmed person who hasn't responded is Alex. So I think we have enough critical mass to do it at my house. I'll have some burgers, chips and some random other stuff. Feel free to bring a side or something else for the grill if you want, but no obligation whatsoever. If you haven't confirmed but were planning to come, please do!

So I ended up researching savings account bonuses. Citi has a 400 bonus if you deposit 15k for 6 mos (maybe less but I'm playing it safe). Chase has a 500 bonus if you deposit 15kand do a direct deposit.

I'm doubling these by doing one account for me and one for my wife. I'll probably try to switch to competitors every 6 mos for more bonuses.

Should we throw out dates for the next meetup? Thanks again foundapenny for hosting last time.

Oh and total time spent to open the account was 21 minutes on the phone from start to finish, including setting up the ACH. I figure another 40 minutes to close out later on, so you make $400 an hour.

Citi officially ended it on 8/31, but they said it will relaunch in a few weeks.

Chase ends in November.

It is still going on actually, Citi extended the promotion until end of October I believe.

To receive the bonus: You open Citibank account package, then within 30 days of account opening you deposit 15k and keep it at Citi for 30 consecutive days. After 30 days you need to keep min 10k on the account to keep it fee free ($25/month) until you get the bonus ($400) which can take up to 90 days I believe. After you get the bonus, you should be able to close the account without any early termination fee. All bank bonuses are counted as interest for tax purposes and will be taxed at your marginal tax rate.

The latest hot thing going on is CSR card though.. any takers there within our group?

I probably will, just need to time the spending right to get the bonus. We're planning to buy some air tickets soon that will probably cover most of the spend. I think I'd xfer the points to a hotel program.

So I got the CSR card, and I'm curious on what's kosher as far as closing cards go. I'm starting to have more cards than I want to keep track of, I was planning to wait until right before the year anniversary and cancel. Does anyone know if there's a penalty for that? Credit hit? Possible future application issues?

Best course of action is probably to downgrade the card to Chase Sapphire (no annual fee card) and keep it. It should work with both Reserve and Preferred cards. Move out or spend your points before you do that though.

As usual, these are arbitrary times, so if another time of day works better for you please let me know to add an option.

Have a look back a page or two to see Foundapenny's ideas on discussion topics, so we can have a solid conversation. Last meetup's topics included maximizing credit card rewards (she has HOW MANY?), how to get the most out of Smith's gift cards (Wow!), and didn't our one friend finally sell his house?

I haven't been very active in the forums here, but I've been reading the blog for years. My husband and I would be interested in a meetup. I'm in Herriman (southwest end of Salt Lake County). Evenings and weekends usually work best for us.

Honestly I only just discovered this blog a few weeks ago and should have it read through by tomorrow. So I'm still at the "I just found a thing and I want to interact with people who appreciate the thing" phase. But I will definitely put down when works for me on that link!

I'm also very new to mustachianism and only recently became a lurker on the forums. This is my first official post and I'd love to meet up with some other mustachians in Salt Lake. I live in the sugarhouse area.

Glad to hear there may be some new faces! The regulars range from those who are just starting to those who are just about to retire. Filling out the doodle will help us plan the meetups, it sounds like the 19th is a go, should we settle on a location?

For topics, how about weatherizing a house and cutting back on utility bills?

I'm in for the 19th. The weatherization and utility topic is right up my alley. Been doing that with the new house for the past two months anyway. I've got some good charts to share that will be real applicable, especially for the newer folks. I'm good with the Barnes and Noble, and I'm also happy to offer up my place again if people prefer that option. Just remember I moved out to Daybreak since our last meeting, which may not be as convenient for everyone.

Weather prediction next Thurs is rain and a low of 30. I'm up for foundapennys house, daybreak is a cool area in general, probably parks nearby if it turns out to be good weather. Noon is good for me as well.

Also! I don't know how far foundapenny lives from the end of the TRAX red line daybreak stop but it's an easy roundtrip and could be cheaper than gas if you live anywhere near the system stops already.

I have to be up in Logan for a family thing around 4:30, so if noon to 2ish works for everyone then my place is available. My address is 11492 Open View Ln, South Jordan. Alex, my house is a 15 minute walk from the end of the line stop. It's a nice walk (or at least has been!) that I've been taking almost every day since I moved out here.

Firstly, thanks once again to Foundapenny for inviting us all to his home and sharing a lovely home cooked meal.

Here are a few notes:

Foundapenny spoke about increasing efficiency in his new (and beautiful) home via replacing the very old-school light bulbs, monitoring appliance draw with a digital meter, and discussed DIY insulation in the master suite. Rob also did his own insulation install in his new home, but with a different type. Rob held down yet again with his wit and good-natured banter.

M is expecting a baby boy in Feb (congrats!) and talked about how the preparation is effecting her purchasing habits, and how she ran the numbers on cloth vs. traditional diapers and is it really worth it?

I didn't have much to contribute myself. I'm realizing that my spend rate back here in the US is quite a bit higher than predicted, but that's not surprising given my fancy-pants lifestyle. OMY, or two, or three, for sure.

We also had a new face present, Goldilocks, and got a bit of insight into her introduction to MMM.

We missed out of a handful of you, but hopefully y'all can make the next one. And of course, if the mysterious and awesome EarlyFi is lurking, maybe she'll come around again : )

A majority of us were good with Saturday at noon for future meet ups, but since we missed at least four of you, I'm going to create another Doodle for the next one. Try to pick the most popular date if possible, for max participation. You can always go back and edit your choices up until the event.

Re: new baby, we have 2 walkers and a graco rocking swing that is battery powered. We're trying to clear out stuff we don't use anymore, let me know if you want any of it. My vote is disposable diapers, you are going to be very very very tired, convenience is nice.

I talked a little bit about Pete The Planner's Million Dollar Plan podcast. Something we didn't get into but that I would like to talk about at the next meeting is the concept of a "power percentage," or the percentage of your money going toward building wealth or reducing debt. Here's a link to Pete's episode on this topic: http://media.blubrry.com/askptp/p/content.blubrry.com/askptp/Episode_120_Power_Percentage_mixdown.mp3 (http://media.blubrry.com/askptp/p/content.blubrry.com/askptp/Episode_120_Power_Percentage_mixdown.mp3). Our power percentage right now is 31%, and I think we're going to be around 37% in the new year. I'd be curious to hear where everyone else sits and how that has changed over the years or how you expect it to change over the next few.

Something else we talked about was health savings accounts. I remember someone mentioning one where they will match half your premium and deposit it in the account. Could someone post a link with more info on that? Thanks!

Welcome, Bonkers. Maybe we'll shoot for late January or sometime in February for the next one.

Goldilocks, I think the HSA benefits in question might have been due to the way the employer structured the plan. I think they only offered the HSA, but they sweetened the pot with those added things so people wouldn't be upset about that being the only option.

Hi all, we're up in Ogden. Just finished reading every MMM post and moved on to the forums... looks like I should have started reading here sooner. We hope to make it to the next meetup, though we will probably be visiting family in late January, so it will depend on the date.

So I'm doing ok on my new years resolutions so far. To start, my 1st resolution is "tone down the snark", so I renamed my account from "Look I Made an Account" to this. My 2nd resolution is stop "putting quotes around everything I say" and I'm working on that one....

So now that's out of the way. Welcome Bonkers and Vaulter! I live in Clearfield now so practically around the corner from Ogden!

Goldilocks: I believe it was me that mentioned my high deductible health plan pays half of my premiums back into my HSA monthly. It's a plan specific thing, I've had some employers pay in a lump sum yearly, I've had some employers match 50% of my contributions every paycheck and now my current one that refunds some of my premiums. here is the link the Aetna: http://www.aetnafeds.com/hdhp.php but it's only valid if you work for my same employer (Uncle Sam). The great thing is I get to keep the money and roll it from employer to employer!

Foundapenny: Thanks for turning me on to the Million Dollar Plan podcast, I'm enjoying it. I'll follow up later with my power percentage, I need to get around to finishing my end of year spreadsheets.

Welcome, Bonkers. Maybe we'll shoot for late January or sometime in February for the next one.

Goldilocks, I think the HSA benefits in question might have been due to the way the employer structured the plan. I think they only offered the HSA, but they sweetened the pot with those added things so people wouldn't be upset about that being the only option.

Hi again everyone! I'm sorry I missed the last get together - and meeting all of you! Hopefully there will be another one soon enough.

I actually work in the benefits industry and would be happy to extrapolate on all things HSA if anyone has questions. They are my favorite topic I get to discuss at work and I'm happy to share my knowledge. I love HSAs. :)

I think it's time to start planning another meeting. I'm happy to host again, but would totally understand if people are sick of coming to my place. I think the first and second weekends in February are good for me. I'm not good for the weekend of Feb. 18th.

Hopefully some others will chime in here. The 11th is good for me, as well. It would be great to get some more confirmed and start talking about topics we might want to cover. Too bad we can't mass tag people in this forum. We'd probably have to send a message to them individually.

Just spit balling some possible discussion topics off the top off the o'l head:

1. Why do men have nipples? 2. Where do babies come from?3. Why doesn't Ant Man's punches puncture skin? Same strength, small fist surface area. PSI's! why doesn't that just poke holes in people!?!?4. Power Percentages5. What you do for fun/hobbies on a budget6. Eating good food (not really a discussion topic, but merits mention)

I'm going to officially call Feb. 11 the day then. Do we want to do an afternoon one again, like 2 p.m. or something? Or shoot for a lunchtime, like noon? The nighttime ones seem to be better in the summer when we can hang out outside, or at least I thought the ones we've done like that were great.

As far as Rob's topic ideas:

1. I think we all know the answer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHCYEe5iUsc2. When two people love each other very much, one day a stork comes by and screws it all up.3. Read your Bible. It's in there. If it's not in there, it's probably witchcraft and you don't want to be involved in witchcraft. Or foosball. It's the devil.4. I'm totally down to talk about power percentages. In that case, can people go listen to the Pete The Planner podcast I linked to earlier in the thread and come prepared to discuss?5. Good topic.6. I'm sure we could both eat good food and discuss eating good food less expensively.

I'll throw out that I'd like to talk about where my wife and I should look to invest our non-tax-advantaged funds. We're maxing out a 401k and two IRAs and will be putting more away in the next few months. I want to ask everyone about the options for what to do with that money and the pros and cons of each. Brad, I want to hear about rental properties.

I like the potluck idea. I can cover you on the bowls and spoons. My address is 11492 Open View Ln., South Jordan, for anyone who didn't come to the last one. Let's say 2 p.m. Feel free to bring adult beverages or whatever else to drink if you want anything other than water. I'm going to try to direct message some of the new folks who expressed an interest.

2/11 works for me. I really appreciate the private message as I am not getting email updates on the thread even though I am susbscribed to it. Perhaps someone knows how to fix it if possible?

Not sure what my personal capital return for last year was but my 401k had 11% for the year.. This does not include 20% cash position in IRA that I have been waiting to invest for too long so really the total return is closer to 8% as well.

Wow thanks for the message. I wasn't getting notifications either. The 11th should work for me! I'm looking forward to spending time with people who don't make fun of my hobby of reading financial blogs. 😊

Hi, I'm fairly new. I joined the blog/forum last year, however just found this thread. I live in the West Jordan area and would love to join and attend some local Mustachian meetup groups. It looks like there is a meetup this weekend on Saturday, 2/11. I'd be interested in attending. Thank you!

Thanks for the great turnout and lively conversation everyone! We talked in vague terms about setting the next meet up for mid to late April. I just wanted to get that out there for anyone who didn't make it and wants to know when the next one is. We can sort out the date/time/location later. I hope everyone had a good time. It was really cool to see all the new faces!

For those interested, the Minimalist.org: Salt Lake City Meetup Group is doing a few meet ups regarding finance. The next one is Monday, February 27 at 7 PM at Salt Lake Roasting Co, 320 E 400 S, downtown Salt Lake.

The topic is Frugal Living Tips. Check out the Facebook page "Minimalist.org: Salt Lake City Meetup Group" to check it out.

Thanks for the great turnout and lively conversation everyone! We talked in vague terms about setting the next meet up for mid to late April. I just wanted to get that out there for anyone who didn't make it and wants to know when the next one is. We can sort out the date/time/location later. I hope everyone had a good time. It was really cool to see all the new faces!

Thanks for hosting! We enjoyed meeting everyone and look forward to the next get together. Mid-late April should work for us right now.

The weather at the moment suggests next weekend is still going to be rainy and coldish, but the weekend after that might be more in the mid-60s. Granted that's putting a lot of faith in meteorologists. Would the 6th or 7th be better? (The following weekend is Mother's Day on Sunday, so I think that's safely not an option.)

Hi all, new to the forum but not so new to MMM here in Sugarhouse. I registered for the forum a day to late to get the PM, Foundapenny would you mind shooting me the details if you get this before the meetup next saturday?

Looks like Saturday it is. The forecast doesn't look great at the moment, low 50s, cloudy, with rain "later in the day." Do we want to try another outdoor one this time around, or go indoors again and hope next time we finally have some decent weather?

Also, here's a post from Collins that is speaking directly to me right now and was/is something I wanted to talk about when we get together http://jlcollinsnh.com/2017/04/14/sell-sell-sell-sell/.

Thank you, Foundapenny, for the PM/heads up. My partner and I will probably be there tomorrow--he's worried he might be coming down with a virus, and if he is we'll keep it away from you. Looking forward to meeting everyone!

This one is mostly for olob, but I thought I'd share here with our crew.

It's just a link to a podcast, but one titled "The Shocking Truth About Life After Financial Independence" . Intrigued? I was.

https://financialmentor.com/podcast/financial-independence/20113

olob, dude, this will resonate. Let me know what you think! And foundapenny, you may very well give me more shit the next time we meet up! : ) Maybe I'll have finally ended the madness, maybe not. We'll see.

Good podcast. I often read about how the most successful retirees — early or otherwise — are the ones who retire toward something rather than from something. Honestly, if I had that option today, I don't have a clue what I would retire toward. So it's probably a good thing I'm not there yet.

But then I think, to what? For me it's just having the opportunity to do other things with the day other than be in the office. What that is depends on the day, or season.

For example, I'm not going into work today or tomorrow. The forecast for paragliding today happens to be quite good, so that's what I'm going to do. That is, after a leisurely couple cups of coffee and a trip to the library to pick up the book mentioned in that podcast.

Other days may not be as exciting or entertaining. I may not have something specific to do. I may just hang out and play video games, walk down to the store for that one item I need, or hang out and read.

What's important to me is the choice. The conscious decision to do whatever it is that I'm doing. Maybe I'll figure it out something more specific down the road, maybe not.

It's been on my mind a lot lately. My last contract ends on 5/19 (usually I've been juggling at least 3 contracts at a time for the last 8 years), and so far they haven't mentioned new projects yet, so I've been taking the time to think about the idea of not working for a while.

The more I think about it, the greedier I get haha, 12 mos of no work sounds pretty nice. I think I've decided to kick the can on the wife's tuition and get a loan versus paying it in cash now, it'll cost me $1900 in interest, but it leaves my cash reserves nice and high, which makes me feel more comfortable. I'm hoping I'll have a burn rate of less than 1,000 per month (after rental income and wife's contribution), in theory it'll be less, but I'm sure everyone knows how that goes...

As for what to do? I like the day at a time approach. I have a big list of things I've wanted to do for a long time, but I have a feeling I will really enjoy doing very little while I recharge and rediscover who I am outside of work, alternating project days with lazy days.

I'll stick this here in case you all don't visit RockstarFinance every day like I do. They just added what is essentially a personal finance blog search engine/RSS feed http://directory.rockstarfinance.com/feeds (http://directory.rockstarfinance.com/feeds). In case you're bored and looking for something to read.

I hear you on the larger cash buffer. It's not necessarily the best way to tie up money, but hey, sleep is good.

Oh, and Foundapenny, there is a Utah blogger on that search but I hadn't read up too much on it.

In other news, Human Resources is unwilling to provide me a leave of absence for 10.5 months as requested.

So it looks like I'm stuck working forever.

Or not.

I'm handing in my letter of resignation on Monday. Two weeks, possibly less, until I'm funemployed. Upper management says that I'd be leaving "on very good terms" and would be able to jump back on if I wanted to. But... I doubt it.

Soon I'll be applying for marketplace health care, rolling over my 401(k), and enjoying not waking up at 4:45am M-F and having 3.5 hours per day in a vehicle.

I hear you on the larger cash buffer. It's not necessarily the best way to tie up money, but hey, sleep is good.

Oh, and Foundapenny, there is a Utah blogger on that search but I hadn't read up too much on it.

In other news, Human Resources is unwilling to provide me a leave of absence for 10.5 months as requested.

So it looks like I'm stuck working forever.

Or not.

I'm handing in my letter of resignation on Monday. Two weeks, possibly less, until I'm funemployed. Upper management says that I'd be leaving "on very good terms" and would be able to jump back on if I wanted to. But... I doubt it.

Soon I'll be applying for marketplace health care, rolling over my 401(k), and enjoying not waking up at 4:45am M-F and having 3.5 hours per day in a vehicle.

I did not see this until today. Big Congrats!! It's like you are the first person to "graduate" within the group :). Hope life is treating you well so far.

Brett Holzhauer, who writes for Bald Thoughts and would like to join us in future meetings, is having a travel hacking meet up in the Salt Lake area on June 17. If anyone is interested, here you go http://baldthoughts.boardingarea.com/2017/06/travel-meetup-june-17-salt-lake-city/.

I'm not sure. At the moment, there's only three people talking about making it. That's probably a bit thin. Anyone else out there who wants to weigh in on the date of the next meet up? Bueller? Bueller?

For other meetups I attend, we usually book a conference room at the library downtown (which it's too late to book for this meet up), or at a coffee shop like Salt Lake Coffee Roasters. We could always go back to Barnes and Noble!

My apartment building is new and they finally finished the game room. There's also an outdoor terrace on the 2nd level that faces north. This can be an option, but I can't guarantee privacy (except for my 471 sq/ft unit that can seat up to seven in a very cozy manner, plus standing room :-D)

Your place is always awesome though! I hope you know how much we all appreciate your generosity.

Hey everyone, I just found another Utah-based thread where they're discussing some meet ups around Moab in October 2017 and October 2018. If anyone is interested in exploring that idea, the thread is https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/meetups-and-social-events/moab-utah-usa-in-october-2018/100/ (https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/meetups-and-social-events/moab-utah-usa-in-october-2018/100/).

Ah I'm sad that I missed this!! I don't post often but I lurk a lot. I've been thinking for months that it'd be neat to form a Utah Mustachians group on MeetUp (my cousins run one in CA and I keep thinking we need one here). Would anyone be interested in heading that up with me?

Hey shzm93, sorry you missed it as well. Come to the next one for sure!

I think we can definitely improve on the coordination of meet ups. There have been a few issues so far:

1. Forum bugs. Some people report issues with getting notified when people reply in this thread, and therefore miss key information and meet ups. This leads to the host having to private message every person who has posted in the last couple pages.

2. RSVP. It would be nice to let the host know how many to expect. There were seven people listed as able to come to the last one, but then there were four. No problem there, but an RSVP would have been helpful.

The Meetup.com option is great, but the Organizer Subscription is my only concern. With so few participants, there's got to be another free way to smooth out these issues.

Foundapenny started a Google Group sometime last year, but it just didn't stick for some reason. We spoke about it briefly at the last meetup. Maybe he wants to revisit the idea?

Apologies on my end too as I said I would come but then it got crazy and I did not make it due to upcoming travel.

I think a problem with the forum is that we don't get notifications. Maybe we can do a Google hangouts group chat on the side in addition to the forum? Or a Facebook chat? I do think we should try to find an alternative way of communication but still keep the forum as well. We can discuss options.

It's all good Capitalist. Yeah, a reliable way to communicate would be good. Foundapenny had a Google Group set up way back in the beginning, but for some reason it didn't catch on. I'd be happy to give it another try if he want's to resurrect it.

Meetup.com is great if you're cool with paying the Organizer Subscription, which is $10-15 a month depending on your group size.

We've created a Google Hangouts group to pass along information about future meet ups, etc. It's essentially notification redundancy in case some folks don't get notified of thread replies in this forum. https://hangouts.google.com/group/ah1rfxWZB4uGvm252 You can change the ringtone to something else, or mute the conversation entirely.

There's a couple of dates that have 10 of 14 who can make it. If we're thinking about doing a park, Labor Day weekend probably is going to be a really busy time for parks. Should we say Sept. 16 at 2 p.m., location TBD so that everyone can solidify plans?

I'm just posting to subscribe to the thread so I can catch the next meetup. BTW, wouldn't it be easier to start a meetup.com for SLC Mustachians?

Or perhaps we can consider creating a 'SLC/UT Mustachians' private group page on Facebook if one doesn't exist already? Not sure how many here have Facebook or think that would be a worthwhile addition to the google hangout or not. Ideas?

I am looking forward to the next meetup on September 16th at 2pm! Bummed I had to miss the last one, but at least I was out of town for a Mustachian related/approved event.

I also look forward to the next meet-up. Looks like we will have the greatest turn out so far. I'm thinking we could come up with some topics to talk about or just recycle the topics from one of the previous meet-ups.

I agree a park sounds good or foundapennys place.

Facebook group would definitely add value and increase connectivity. JerBlue, do you want to set one up?

The Facebook group has now been created as 'Utah Mustachians'. It is currently a "Closed" group setting to allow people to find it and request to join. We can change it back to a "Secret" group which would still allow us to invite members, yet keep the group hidden from public if that is preferred by the majority. Let me know if any of you would also like to be an admin of the group.

The Facebook group has now been created as 'Utah Mustachians'. It is currently a "Closed" group setting to allow people to find it and request to join. We can change it back to a "Secret" group which would still allow us to invite members, yet keep the group hidden from public if that is preferred by the majority. Let me know if any of you would also like to be an admin of the group.

The Facebook group has now been created as 'Utah Mustachians'. It is currently a "Closed" group setting to allow people to find it and request to join. We can change it back to a "Secret" group which would still allow us to invite members, yet keep the group hidden from public if that is preferred by the majority. Let me know if any of you would also like to be an admin of the group.

For those who aren't in the Facebook group (which does a better job of alerting us to new stuff!) we're meeting tomorrow at 2 p.m. at Eastlake Park in South Jordan. It's just a minute west of I-15, between 10400 South and 11400 South. Here's a map link. https://www.google.com/maps/place/East+Riverfront+Park/@40.5523741,-111.9146463,83m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x34073c5508ca1aa5!8m2!3d40.5525562!4d-111.914227 (https://www.google.com/maps/place/East+Riverfront+Park/@40.5523741,-111.9146463,83m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x34073c5508ca1aa5!8m2!3d40.5525562!4d-111.914227)